An efficient assessment of reading and linguistic abilities in school children requires reliable and valid measures. Moreover, measures which include specific test forms for different academic grade levels, that are vertically equated, allow the direct comparison of results across multiple time points and avoid floor and ceiling effects. Two studies were conducted to achieve these goals. The purpose of the first study was to develop tests of reading and listening comprehension in European Portuguese, with vertically scaled test forms for students (...) in the fifth and sixth grades, using Rasch model analyses. The purpose of the second study was to collect evidence for the validity of these tests based on the relationships of test scores with other variables. The samples included 454 and 179 students for the first and second study, respectively. The data from both studies provided evidence for good psychometric characteristics for the test forms: unidimensionality and local independence, as well as adequate reliability and evidence of validity. The developed test forms are an important contribution in the Portuguese educational context as they allow for the assessment of students’ performance in these skills across multiple time points and can be used both in research and practice. (shrink)

Em seu livro Mente e Mundo John McDowell pretende superar a oscilação entre duas abordagens que pretendem mediar à relação entre as mentes e o mundo, de um lado temos o mito do dado dizendo que os pensamentos precisam de uma coerção a partir do mundo exterior, e do outro lado temos o coerentismo que apresenta a ideia de que apenas uma crença pode justificar outra crença. Para defender sua abordagem e naturalizar as capacidades conceituais, situando a espontaneidade na natureza (...) sem reduzi-la no interior do reino da lei. A natureza humana seria então uma segunda natureza que não é só formada a partir das capacidades adquiridas no nascimento, mas que são formadas também a partir da Bildung. Ao lançar mão dessas noções, McDowell traz a discussão das ideias de Han-Georg Gadamer sobre a experiência de abertura para o mundo através da linguagem. Deste modo, a intenção do presente artigo é de discutir sobre as implicações das noções de Bildung e segunda natureza na obra de McDowell buscando um maior esclarecimento a partir da influência e das interpretações de Gadamer. (shrink)

Resumo Como se organizam os meios para que seus produtos sejam oferecidos a seus usuários como produtos de comunicação? Esta é a pergunta que sustenta e justifica o estudo da gramática dos meios, segundo a articulação de códigos eletrônicos geradores das linguagens icônicas em processos perceptuais e cognitivos. Orienta-se pelas explorações que M.McLuhan formulou em suas análises e exercícios de seu projeto pedagógico e também na metodologia semiótica dos processos de articulação sintática, semântica e pragmática.

A partir da leitura da Fenomenologia do espírito [Phänomenologie des Geistes], de Hegel, em particular, da Introdução, busca-se elaborar os pressupostos da formação da consciência, mostrando os momentos em que essa passa pelo seu formar, diferentemente do que ocorria no período moderno. Percebe-se o surgimento de novo critério de formação, cujo fundamento é assinalado pela crítica que Hegel faz à formação representativa, que sustenta a educação mediante a interiorização do pensamento e a representa a partir de conceitos que não passaram (...) pela experiência com o objeto e nem realizaram a negação de seu saber com o intuito de formar outro. Já na formação dialética, a partir dos pressupostos hegelianos, a consciência sai do seu estado natural e percorre o movimento do círculo espiral e, em cada momento desse percurso circular, realiza a experiência entre o saber da consciência com a verdade do objeto. Nesse sentido, cada etapa dessa experiência é o aprofundar no saber da consciência e na verdade do objeto, causando dúvida e desespero em seu formar, pois vê desaparecerem o conhecer e a verdade que tinha do objeto. Com isso, têm-se os momentos de negação, de conservação e de superação tanto na consciência quanto no objeto, constituindo a suprassunção [Aufhebung] até alcançar o saber conceitual em que há a identificação entre o saber e a verdade. Com esse princípio de formação, Hegel faz a crítica da crítica e efetiva a experiência entre o saber do sujeito e a verdade do objeto. Nesse itinerário, a consciência, paulatinamente, entra no processo do trabalho de formação, cujo fundamento é o concrecere – crescer juntos; ou seja, o saber da consciência com a verdade do objeto. Isso se realiza no momento em que a consciência é tocada pelo fenômeno do objeto. Há, então, novo procedimento pedagógico que leva em consideração a negação, o ceticismo amadurecido e a experiência para alcançar o saber real de sua formação [Bildung]. Palavras-chave: Formação. Consciência. Experiência. Desespero. Ceticismo. (shrink)

O artigo se propõe apresentar alguns elementos da cosmovisão umbandista para que possamos entender de que maneira esta legitima e ressignifica os espaços de inclusão social de parte da população brasileira. Esta cosmovisão recria e dá sentido às vidas e identidades das pessoas e, ao mesmo tempo, evidencia as exclusões sofridas ao longo das décadas. O texto busca uma compreensão dessas dinâmicas antropológicas e sociológicas baseado em algumas teorias que se debruçaram sobre a umbanda. Desde cedo afrodescendentes transitam entre universos (...) simbólicos distintos e lançam mão de sua espiritualidade para reelaborarem suas tradições criando possibilidades de jogar com papéis e identidades diversas. A Umbanda, por ser constitutivamente plural, é, muitas vezes, julgada por não ter identidade própria. Por isso alguns elementos que compõem o arranjo da cosmovisão umbandista foram levantados na expectativa de apresentar um eixo compreensivo dessa identidade religiosa. Entretanto, faz-se necessário apontar traços marcantes da Umbanda justamente para que seu caráter identitário não fique à margem de outras denominações religiosas afro-brasileiras. Palavras-chave : Umbanda. Espiritualidade. InclusãoThis article presents some elements of Umbanda worldview to a better understanding of how this religion legitimizes and reframes the spaces of social inclusion of a portion of the Brazilian population. This worldview recreates and gives meaning to the lives and identities of people and at the same time, highlights the exclusions suffered by this people over the decades. Since their early years, Brazilian Afrodescendants move between different symbolic universes and use their spirituality to redesign their traditions, creating possibilities to play with different roles and identities. Umbanda, being constitutively plural, is often judged not to have its own identity. Thus, some elements that comprise Umbanda worldview were raised with the purpose of presenting an axis understanding of this religious identity. However, it is necessary to point out some relevant features of Umbanda, so that their identity features do not stay on the sidelines of other african Brazilian religious denominations.Finally, it seeks an understanding of these anthropological and sociological dynamics, based on some theoretical currents that investigate the Umbanda. Keywords : Umbanda. Spirituality. Inclusion. (shrink)

O esquecimento é uma experiência incómoda da quotidianeidade. Marca de temporalidade e de finitude, tem carácter ontológico e alcance ôntico. Manifesta o caminho da verdade do ser à maneira humana e do ser no mundo de tudo quanto há. Heidegger define esse caminho ontológico incontornável como sendo o da metafísica ocidental, hoje culminante na época da técnica. Mas, numa abordagem meta-ontológica, o fenómeno ontológico de poder esquecer constitui uma possibilidade para o existir de cada um, enquanto projecto. O não-esquecimento compulsivo-obsessivo (...) inibe o a-vir, reduzindo-o a interpretações sedimentadas, pre-determinadas por situações hermenêuticas do sido, congeladas num não-passado. A presente abordagem pretende considerar esta duplicidade do possível e do não-possível, radicada no olvido e na abertura afectiva, ao encontro e ao seu novum, assim habilitado. Para tal, parte de um quadro de Klee e de uma narrativa de Borges, para orientar a leitura de textos de Heidegger, desde 1927 a 1945. (shrink)

Drawing on feminist philosophical accounts of reproduction and initial data acquired through research with migrant mothers in London, this article argues that the role and place of reproduction remains under-theorized within scholarly accounts of women's role in migration processes. Working with an expanded concept of reproduction that includes not only childbirth and motherhood, but also the work of reproducing heritage, culture and structures of belonging, it argues that feminist migration scholars can draw on valuable theoretical resources in order to tell (...) more complicated stories about the place of reproduction in migration, and challenge the often problematic gendered distinctions between travelling and staying put, change and repetition that continue to underpin some of the narrative structures operative in migration studies. (shrink)

The commentaries on the Ethica nova and the Ethica vetus written by some masters of the arts – presumably operating in the Paris faculty – in the first half of the thirteenth century expound in an original way the doctrine of the virtutes consuetudinales which Aristotle, at the end of the first book of his Ethica (I 13), distinguishes into the two main classes of the “moral virtues” and the “intellectual virtues”. The present paper aims at highlighting the particularly important (...) task which is assigned to the intellectual virtues in these early commentaries: joining man to God directly, through a contemplation which becomes love. The masters of the arts maintain that the moral virtues, in spite of the definition given by Aristotle (habitus a quo quis bonus est et opus eius bene reddit), are not sufficient alone to bring man to perfection, but that other more perfect virtues, namely the intellectual ones, are needed in order to make him know and love the supreme good. Having no knowledge of the sixth book of the Ethica, in which Aristotle deals in particular with the intellectual virtues, our masters know only their general description and are concerned with clarifying their relationships with the moral virtues, compared to which they appear to be sometimes really distinct and sometimes united to them in sharing the recta ratio, so much that they may constitute a double virtue. Although the masters of the arts seem to be well-informed about the teaching of the theologians – which they often cite without opposing to it, albeit stressing their own philosophical point of view –, it is significant that no reference whatsoever is made by them to the theological virtues and that they have recourse to the themes of Avicennian mysticism such as the doctrine of the two faces of the soul. Besides presenting the commentaries on the Ethica vetus from a general point of view, I will focus on the Paris commentary in Ethicam veterem (Paris BN lat. 3804A, ff. 152ra-159vb, 241ra-247vb; Paris BN lat. 3572, ff. 226ra-235ra), of which I am preparing a critical edition. The Paris commentary contains in fact a special and original discussion of the doctrine of the virtutes intellectuales. (shrink)

Research involving transgender and gender diverse people (TGD) increased in the last years, mostly concerning healthcare associated to this population. Few studies dedicated their analysis to the impact of parental support on transgender people, even though this is an important aspect in creating a safe environment on which these individuals can build their identity. In addition, the link between family support, TGD identity and homelessness is not completely established. Thus, due to the specificities of the family context of TGD individuals, (...) the aim of this study is to investigate the association between family support and TGD in different moments of the process of gender affirmation. In addition, this study also aims to explore the relationship between a lack of social support and low self-esteem, home abandonment, and dwelling in the street. The survey was designed based on the TransPULSE project and was made available in electronic format. The sample was constituted of 423 TGD residents in two Brazilian states. A Structural Equation Model analysis suggested that the impact of gender affirmation status on homelessness was mediated by parental support, through self-esteem, and the need to move from home. The association between the status of the gender affirmation procedures, family support and self-esteem was significant and indicated that the further TGD individuals advanced in gender affirmation, the more self-esteem and family support they would have. The association between family support and self-esteem indicated that family support was associated with higher self-esteem. Low family support was associated with the willingness to move from home due to one’s TGD status and there was also a significant correlation between low self-esteem and the willingness to move from home due to one’s TGD status. Finally, homelessness was associated with the willingness to move with a large effect size. Limitations include the sample that was constituted by individuals with Internet access and who had more contact with TGD communities. The findings indicate directions for interventions involving TGD people and their families, considering the parental relationship as a critical variable to improve TGD quality of life in the process of gender affirmation. (shrink)

Written by two of the leading figures in the field, this is a lucid and systematic introduction to semantics as applied to transformational grammars of the ...

Entrevista com Martin Jay (Universidade de Berkeley, Califórnia), por Bruna Della Torre e Eduardo Altheman.

The title of the present article underlines the investigation of one of the central theses of Polo about creation, explicitly developed in the first volume of Transcendental Anthropology. Polo’s theory studies the creature regarding its act of being qua created, therefore as distinct from the uncreated Being.

La figura del payaso ha pasado por diferentes momentos y lecturas históricas, lo que permite considerarla como una figura arquetípica. Su papel en la sociedad históricamente fue el del ridículo, objeto de risas, pero el payaso no sólo es un ser congruente, auténtico y valiente, sino que también pued..

The goal of this study was to evaluate and compare the hygienic-sanitary conditions of two Units of Food and Nutrition (UANs) (A and B) located in two municipalities of the Vale do Taquari, Rio Grande do Sul, by means of Ordinance No. 78/2009, which established the Checklist of Good Practices for Food Services. This legislation composes a checklist with 153 criteria distributed in 12 categories. Each criterion is endowed with the options "Yes", "No" and "NA" (not applicable), which were marked (...) with an "x", being: "NA" when the criterion did not correspond to the UAN reality, "No" when the criteria were not in compliance with the legislation, and "Yes" when UAN met the evaluation criteria legislation. The classification of each UAN followed the scoring criteria established by RDC 275/2002. The a UAN presented a total of 90.85% (n = 129) of compliance and the "B" UAN totaled 88.27% (n = 128) of compliance. Both were classified in Group 1 of DRC 275/2002. The "A" UAN presented 05 nonconforming categories, totaling 13 criteria (9.15%), and Unit B 08 nonconforming categories, totaling 17 criteria (11.72%). Both UANs had good hygienic-sanitary conditions because they met most of the criteria in accordance with the legislation. (shrink)

O presente estudo objetivou conhecer as percepções, as expectativas e os conhecimentos de puérperas em relação à experiência do parto normal, assim como os procedimentos utilizados pelos profissionais da saúde para a humanização do parto. Foram entrevistadas 31 puérperas que passaram pela parturição..

ABSTRACT In this research, adopting a qualitative and descriptive approach, the aim is to investigate the possible meaning’s effect associated with the image of Female-Exu using the theoretical framework of Materialist Discourse Analysis. The mythologies surrounding this entity are linked to her power at crossroads and her potential to open paths, providing her followers new ways of understanding life. Additionally, the image of this entity updates meanings related to eroticism. Considering the hegemony of Christian ideologies, the representation of the Female-Exu (...) leads to interpretations other than those which associate the erotic with sin. Therefore, unlike the Christian ideology, such as the image of the devil and/or satan, in addition to negative/pejorative erotic aspects associated with the entity by non-Candomblé and Umbanda practitioners, the research proposal is also to investigate possible erotic meanings in the lyrics “Maria Padilha” by Bixarte. (shrink)

There are several conceptions of truth, such as the classical correspondence conception, the coherence conception and the pragmatic conception. The classical correspondence conception, or Aristotelian conception, received a mathematical treatment in the hands of Tarski (cf. Tarski [1935] and [1944]), which was the starting point of a great progress in logic and in mathematics. In effect, Tarski's semantic ideas, especially his semantic characterization of truth, have exerted a major influence on various disciplines, besides logic and mathematics; for instance, linguistics, the (...) philosophy of science, and the theory of knowledge. The importance of the Tarskian investigations derives, among other things, from the fact that they constitute a mathematical, formal mark to serve as a reference for the philosophical (informal) conceptions of truth. Today the philosopher knows that the classical conception can be developed and that it is free from paradoxes and other difficulties, if certain precautions are taken. We believe that is not an exaggeration if we assert that Tarski's theory should be considered as one of the greatest accomplishments of logic and mathematics of our time, an accomplishment which is also of extraordinary relevance to philosophy, as we have already remarked. In this paper we show that the pragmatic conception of truth, at least in one of its possible interpretations, has also a mathematical formulation, similar in spirit to that given by Tarski to the classical correspondence conception. (shrink)

The paper focuses on conceptual images of the market built on the core idea of equilibrium. It argues that logical difficulties and dead ends were encountered in building equilibrium models of the market. A heavy toll was paid in loss of realism, failure to understand history, and ineptitude in addressing relevant problems. Equilibrium economics is marked by the exclusion of a wide range of economic phenomena, with a codified lack of attention to change, transition and learning. The loss of relevance (...) involved was a consequence of the primitive idea of conceiving of the market within the semantic field of equilibrium. The most evident failure of the equilibrium imagery was in understanding economic development as a process of social and structural change in history. The paper argues that is time to free economic theory from the obsessive centrality of the equilibrium idea. Attention should shift to the market economy as a complex network of rules, organizations and institutions, which make viable economic change. This approach invites scholars in economics to a fruitful dialogue with other fields of knowledge, to understand both crises and successes in processes of economic change.L’article traite des images conceptuelles du marché construites à partir de l’idée d’équilibre. Il est suggéré que la construction des modèles d’équilibre du marché a souffert de difficultés logiques et a aboutit à des impasses. Il en a résulté une perte de réalisme, et une incapacité à comprendre l’histoire et à aborder les questions pertinentes. L’économie de l’équilibre est caractérisée par l’exclusion d’un grand nombre de phénomènes économiques mais aussi par un manque d’attention au changement, à la transition, et à l’apprentissage. Le manque de pertinence qui en découle est le résultat de l’idée primitive de concevoir le marché dans le champ sémantique de l’équilibre. L’échec le plus évident de l’image d’équilibre réside dans la compréhension du développement économique comme un processus du changement social et structurel au cours de l’histoire. L’article suggère qu’il est temps de libérer la théorie économique de cette idée obsessionnelle d’équilibre. Il faut plutôt concevoir le marché comme un réseau complexe de règles, d’organisations et d’institutions qui rendent le changement économique viable. Cette approche invite l’économie à un dialogue fructueux avec les autres domaines de la connaissance pour comprendre à la fois les crises et les réussites des processus de changement économique. (shrink)

The foundation of the Australian colonial project lies within an ‘originary violence’, in which the state retains a vested interest in maintaining the founding order of things. Inequalities and iniquities are maintained for the purpose of sustaining the life and continuity of the state. The Australian state, founder of a violent order is called upon by the international community to conform and uphold ‘human rights’, but what does this call to conformity require, particularly when the call comes from states which (...) are also founded upon colonial violence? This article argumes that very little is required beyond the masquerade that ‘equality’ for Aboriginal peoples is an on-going project of the state. So for what purpose does the masquerade continue? (shrink)

The foundation of the Australian colonial project lies within an ‘originary violence’, in which the state retains a vested interest in maintaining the founding order of things. Inequalities and iniquities are maintained for the purpose of sustaining the life and continuity of the state. The Australian state, founder of a violent order is called upon by the international community to conform and uphold ‘human rights’, but what does this call to conformity require, particularly when the call comes from states which (...) are also founded upon colonial violence? This article argumes that very little is required beyond the masquerade that ‘equality’ for Aboriginal peoples is an on-going project of the state. So for what purpose does the masquerade continue? (shrink)

This essay is a critical review of two recent collections, Feminism and Foucault: Reflections on Resistance, edited by Irene Diamond and Lee Quinby and Feminism as Critique: On the Politics of Gender, edited by Seyla Benhabib and Drucilla Cornell. While the collections differ in their manner of addressing the critical sources that have inspired them-the former relying upon a single theorist, the latter attempting to move through some of the philosophical history that constitutes our present theoretical terrain-both attempt to (...) think through and thus revisualize some of the categories of difference which we have inherited. Though the best essays from these collections are celebrated for demonstrating how "feminism as critique" can work to move us toward a clearer and more inclusive feminist theory, questions are raised about what the inattention to race in these volumes suggests about our own role in the construction of power and knowledge, and the erasures that help to secure them both. (shrink)

Here we review and discuss the link between regeneration capacity and tumor suppression comparing mammals (embryos versus adults) with highly regenerative vertebrates. Similar to mammal embryo morphogenesis, in amphibians (essentially newts and salamanders) the reparative process relies on a precise molecular and cellular machinery capable of sensing abnormal signals and actively reprograming or eliminating them. As the embryo's evil twin, tumor also retains common functional attributes. The immune system plays a pivotal role in maintaining a physiological balance to provide surveillance (...) against tumor initiation or to support its initiation and progression. We speculate that susceptibility to cancer development in adult mammals may be determined by the loss of an advanced regenerative capability during evolution and believe that gaining mechanistic insights into how regenerative capacity linked to tumor suppression is postnatally lost in mammals might illuminate an as yet unrecognized route to cancer treatment. (shrink)

Este artigo tem como objetivo destacar o impacto da metodologia da pesquisa arqueológica nas obras de Angela Davis (2016) e bell hooks (2023), respectivamente, “Mulher, Raça e Classe”, e “E eu não sou uma Mulher? Mulheres negras e feminismo”, que buscam reexaminar, de modo imersivo, a experiência e luta contra a violência da escravidão na história de mulheres negras. As intelectuais feministas negras estadunidenses abrem as portas para um pensamento científico menos tolerante à misoginia, ao racismo, e outras formas de (...) violências relacionais e institucionais, de modo a romper com a tradição da historiografia positivista. Trata-se de uma pesquisa documental, que contempla a análise crítica das referidas obras, com base no método filosófico pautado na investigação histórica de Michel Foucault (2008). Ressalta-se, então, a importância do reconhecimento dessas literaturas enquanto estimadas representantes e invasoras da arqueologia do saber, e a relevância de novas produções que possibilitem uma representação social coerente com a realidade dos discursos sobre a mulher negra, contribuindo para uma narrativa histórica contada pela pessoa oprimida, no intuito de abrir frestas para o efetivo rompimento com as epistemologias que legitimam e favorecem sistemas de opressão. Por meio de uma arqueologia da escravidão, para além das formações discursivas coloniais das práticas econômicas, políticas e sociais, as filósofas exploram as interconexões entre diferentes narrativas, revelando a complexa teia que sustenta as relações de poder, e como a marginalização é perpetuada. A conclusão direciona para a importância de reconhecer e valorizar as experiências das mulheres negras, destacando a necessidade de dar voz a essas narrativas historicamente silenciadas. (shrink)

Introduction: Time and the shared world -- The "subject" of inquiry -- Mineness and the practical first-person -- Being and otherness: Sartre's critique -- Heideggerian aprioricity and the categories of being -- The temporality of care -- Fursorge: acknowledging the other Dasein -- Authenticity, inauthenticity, and the extremes of Fursorge -- Conclusion.

‘‘Post-normal science’’ has received much attention in recent years, but like many iconic concepts, it has attracted differing conceptualizations, applications, and implications, ranging from being a ‘‘cure-all’’ for democratic deficit to the key to achieving more sustainable futures. This editorial article introduces a Special Issue that takes stock of research on PNS and critically explores how such research may develop. Through reviewing the history and evolution of PNS, the authors seek to clarify the extant definitions, conceptualizations, and uses of PNS. (...) The authors identify five broad areas of research on, or using, PNS which have developed over four decades. Their analysis suggests that the 1990s represent a symbolic watershed in the use of PNS terminology, when the concept was further developed and applied to highly complicated issues such as climate change. The authors particularly distinguish between uses of PNS as a normative prescription and as a practical method. Through this classification, they set out gaps and research questions arising. They then briefly summarize the Special Issue articles and consider their relationship to each other and the research questions raised by their analysis. They conclude by considering what the articles in this issue suggest for future theory building in PNS and related scholarship. (shrink)

Thomas Kuhn is mostly known for his contributions to the philosophy of science. However, it was chiefly to investigations in philosophy of language that he dedicated the last part of his career. The aim of this paper is to present a systematic view of Kuhn’s main ideas on this subject. I start by describing his theory of concept, in particular what he says about kind terms. Such terms, acquired in blocks that form contrast sets or “taxonomies,” are learned through ostensible (...) definitions. Next, I analyze Kuhn’s concepts of “meaning” and “truth.” Finally, I discuss a second type of kinds terms, not fully investigated by him, which is learned together with scientific laws. Resumo Thomas Kuhn é conhecido principalmente por suas contribuições para a filosofia da ciência. No entanto, foi em grande medida à filosofia da linguagem que ele dedicou a última parte de sua carreira. O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar uma visão sistemática das principais ideias de Kuhn sobre esse assunto. Começo descrevendo sua teoria do conceito, em particular o que ele diz sobre termos para espécie. Tais termos, aprendidos em blocos que formam conjuntos de contraste ou “taxonomias”, são aprendidos através de definições ostensivas. Em seguida, analiso as concepções de Kuhn de “significado” e “verdade”. Finalmente, discuto um segundo tipo de termo para espécies, não totalmente investigado por ele, que é aprendido junto com as leis científicas. (shrink)

Journal Name: Semiotica Issue: Ahead of print.

By putting existential phenomenology into conversation with virtue ethics, this book offers a new interpretation of human flourishing. It rejects characterizations of flourishing as either a private subjective state or an objective worldly status, arguing that flourishing is rather a successfully negotiated self-world fit – a condition involving both the essential dependence of the self upon the world and others, and the lived normative responsiveness of the agent striving to be in the world well. A central argument of the book (...) is that there is an irreducible normative plurality arising from the different practical perspectives we can adopt – the first, second, and third-person stances – all of which make different kinds of normative claim that we understand ourselves as having reason to meet. Flourishing is human excellence within each of these normative domains achieved in such a way that success in one domain does not compromise success in another. Existential Flourishing provides a correspondingly transformed interpretation of the virtues as solutions to various existential problems we face in responding to these normative domains. The book also addresses traditional problems in virtue ethics and analyzes the structure of four virtues in detail: justice, patience, modesty, and courage. (shrink)

The “nature” of an artifact is often equated with its function. Clearly, an artifactual function must be an extrinsic property. This feature of functions has important implications on the semantics of artifactual kind terms: it enables us to vindicate that artifactual kind terms have an externalist semantics. Any alleged externalist theory, indeed, must show that the referents of the considered terms share a common nature (i.e., an extrinsic property), whether we know or could possibly ever know what that nature is. (...) However, the state of the art shows that function is not enough to represent such “nature”: function does not exhaustively account for important phenomena that characterize artifacts and artifactual kinds, nor does it thoroughly define what they are. Thus, extending the scope of externalism to artifactual kind terms seems doomed to fail. Pace opposite views, it could even be argued that artifacts are a sub-class of social kinds. If so, not only social but also artifactual kind terms cannot refer externalistically, since their referents constitutively depend on human intentions and norms. Either way, externalism fails to apply to those kinds of terms. (shrink)

This paper explores whether MacIntyrean virtue ethics concepts are applicable in non-Western business contexts, specifically in SMEs in Taiwan, a country strongly influenced by the Confucian tradition. It also explores what differences exist between different polities in this respect, and specifically interprets observed differences between the Taiwanese study and previous studies conducted in Europe and Asia. Based on case study research, the findings support the generalizability of the MacIntyrean framework. Drawing on the institutional logics perspective and synthesizing this with MacIntyrean (...) concepts, the paper explains the differences between the studies largely by reference to the Confucian tradition operating at both the micro-level within firms and at the macro-level as a means of harmonizing the potentially competing institutional logics to which firms are subject. The recent weakening of this tradition, however, suggests that increased conflict may characterize the future. (shrink)

Known throughout East Asia as Mengzi, or "Master Meng," Mencius was a Chinese philosopher of the late Zhou dynasty, an instrumental figure in the spread of the Confucian tradition, and a brilliant illuminator of its ideas. Mencius was active during the Warring States Period, in which competing powers sought to control the declining Zhou empire. Like Confucius, Mencius journeyed to one feudal court after another, searching for a proper lord who could put his teachings into practice. Only a leader who (...) possessed the moral qualities of a true king could unify China, Mencius believed, and in his defense of Zhou rule and Confucian philosophy, he developed an innovative and highly nuanced approach to understanding politics, self-cultivation, and human nature, profoundly influencing the course of Confucian thought and East Asian culture. _Mencius_ is a record of the philosopher's conversations with warring lords, disciples, and adversaries of the Way, as well as a collection of pronouncements on government, human nature, and a variety of other philosophical and political subjects. Mencius is largely concerned with the motivations of human actors and their capacity for mutual respect. He builds on the Confucian idea of _ren_, or humaneness, and places it alongside the complementary principle of _yi_, or rightness, advancing a complex notion of what is right for certain individuals as they perform distinct roles in specific situations. Consequently, Mencius's impact was felt not only in the thought of the intellectual and social elite but also in the value and belief systems of all Chinese people. (shrink)

Background The aim was to explore how the clinical ethics committees in Norway have worked and functioned within mental health care and addiction treatment services. Methods Analysis of 256 annual reports from clinical ethics committees from 2003 to 2012 and a survey to clinicians who had used a clinical ethics committee. Results Dilemmas related to coercion, confidentiality, information, and patient autonomy dominated. The committees established only for psychiatric hospitals, had received more cases from mental health and addiction services than the (...) committees also serving somatic services. Many of the case discussions involved both somatic and mental health care, complicated legal issues as well as ethical dilemmas. Mental health care professionals that have used the clinical ethics committees evaluated the clinical ethics committees deliberation as useful. Conclusion Given the many difficult ethical dilemmas in mental health care ethics work need to be strengthened. The complexity of the cases requires varied and interdisciplinary competence and training among the clinical ethics committee members. (shrink)

Known throughout East Asia as Mengzi, or "Master Meng," Mencius was a Chinese philosopher of the late Zhou dynasty, an instrumental figure in the spread of the Confucian tradition, and a brilliant illuminator of its ideas. Mencius was active during the Warring States Period, in which competing powers sought to control the declining Zhou empire. Like Confucius, Mencius journeyed to one feudal court after another, searching for a proper lord who could put his teachings into practice. Only a leader who (...) possessed the moral qualities of a true king could unify China, Mencius believed, and in his defense of Zhou rule and Confucian philosophy, he developed an innovative and highly nuanced approach to understanding politics, self-cultivation, and human nature, profoundly influencing the course of Confucian thought and East Asian culture. _Mencius_ is a record of the philosopher's conversations with warring lords, disciples, and adversaries of the Way, as well as a collection of pronouncements on government, human nature, and a variety of other philosophical and political subjects. Mencius is largely concerned with the motivations of human actors and their capacity for mutual respect. He builds on the Confucian idea of _ren_, or humaneness, and places it alongside the complementary principle of _yi_, or rightness, advancing a complex notion of what is right for certain individuals as they perform distinct roles in specific situations. Consequently, Mencius's impact was felt not only in the thought of the intellectual and social elite but also in the value and belief systems of all Chinese people. (shrink)